Gintama
Gintama (銀魂 Gintama, lit. "Silver Soul"), also known as Gin Tama, is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi and serialized, beginning on December 8, 2003, in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump. Set in an Edo which has been conquered by aliens named Amanto, the plot follows life from the point of view of samurai Gintoki Sakata, who works as a freelancer alongside his friends Shinpachi Shimura and Kagura in order to pay the monthly rent. Sorachi added the science fiction setting to develop characters to his liking after his editor suggested doing a historical series. The manga has been licensed by Viz Media in North America. In addition to publishing the individual volumes of the series, Viz serialized its first chapters in their Shonen Jump manga anthology. It debuted in the January 2007 issue, and was serialized at a rate of one chapter a month. An original video animation (OVA) of Gintama by Sunrise was featured at Jump Festa 2006 Anime Tour in 2005. This was followed by a full anime series, which debuted on April 4, 2006 in TV Tokyo and finished on March 25, 2010. A sequel titled Gintama' premiered in Japan on April 4, 2011. An animated film premiered in Japan in April 2010. The website Crunchyroll is streaming the series on its site, while Sentai Filmworks licensed the series, with distribution from Section23 Films on DVDs. Besides the anime series, there have been various light novels and video games based on Gintama. In Japan, the Gintama manga has been popular, selling over 29 million volumes as of December 2009. The anime and its DVDs have been featured, at various time, in Top Ten of their respective media, while TV Tokyo has announced that the first Gintama anime was responsible for high sales overseas along with the anime adaptation from Naruto. Publications for manga, anime and others have commented on the Gintama manga. Positive response have focused on the comedy and characters from the series, while negative responses concern the manga's artwork. Story The story of Gintama takes place in Edo (known today as Tokyo because of its name change in 1868), Japan, which was conquered by aliens called "Amanto" (天人, "Sky People") in the late Edo period. The samurai of Japan fought the aliens, but after their defeat the Amanto placed a ban on carrying swords in public. The plot is focused on an eccentric samurai, Gintoki Sakata who helps a teenager named Shinpachi Shimura save his sister Tae from a group of aliens who want to make her part of a brothel. Impressed with Gintoki, Shinpachi becomes his apprentice and works with him as a freelancer in order to pay the monthly rent where Gintoki lives, as well as to know more about him. The two of them rescue a teenage alien girl named Kagura from a group of Yakuza who wanted to use her superhuman strength to kill people. Kagura joins Shinpachi and Gintoki to work as freelancers and the three become known as "Yorozuya" (万事屋, "We do everything"). While doing their job they encounter the police force Shinsengumi several times, who normally ally with Odd Jobs Gin in their work since they commonly involve dangerous criminals. They also come to meet Gintoki's former comrades during the Amanto's invasion, including the terrorist Kotaro Katsura who maintains a friendly relationship with them despite his ambitions to destroy the bakufu. On the other hand, Shinsuke Takasugi acts as a major antagonist throughout the series, as he wants to destroy the bakufu in a more violent way than Katsura does. Although the series' story is commonly episodic, there are also a few story arcs which are developed through several chapters. Style and Themes Hideaki Sorachi's main focus in Gintama is the use of gags; during the manga's second year of serialization he started to add more drama to the story while still keeping the comedy. Various jokes from the manga are comments regarding clichés from other shōnen series. For example, in the first chapter after Gintoki fights a group of aliens to protect Shinpachi and Tae, Shinpachi complains that he only fought for "one page" and Gintoki replies, "Shut up! One page is a long time for a manga artist!" Gintoki's exaggerated desire to read the Weekly Shōnen Jump (which causes him to fight other readers in order to get it) also makes fun of shōnen, since during those parts characters quote them. Other types of comic situations are more general, so that the reader must know about Japanese culture to understand them. The humour is described by publications as being "bizarre" and "weird". It is also described as being divided between two categories: "sci-fi comedy" and a "samurai comedy" with the former referring to the aliens. It tends to point out "an irritating foible about modern society" including celebrations days or famous mythical figures. Additionally, there are references to several historical figures with a few characters from the story being based on them. Besides the series' comedy, the aliens' invasion in Japan bring several social issues between them and the humans with the most recurring one being the lack of social equality. Manga The manga chapters of Gintama are written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi. They have been serialized for the manga anthology book Weekly Shōnen Jump from Shueisha since December 8, 2003. Shueisha is also publishing the first chapters of Gintama online on their Weekly Shōnen Jump official website. Viz Media licensed Gintama for publication in North America. A 55-page preview from the series was first featured in the January 2006 Shonen Jump issue. Viz acquired the license to publish chapters from the series in the Shonen Jump during the San Diego Comic-Con International from 2006. The chapters were serialized in Shonen Jump from January to May 2007 at a rate of one chapter a month. Shueisha has been collecting the chapters in tankōbon volumes with the first being published on April 2, 2004. As of July 4, 2012, forty-five volumes have been released in Japan. In North America tankōbon were published under Viz's "Shonen Jump Advanced" imprint. The first volume was published on July 3, 2007, while on August 2, 2011 Viz published the twenty-three volume. Publication of the series by Viz Media ended with such volume with no reasons given. Volume List This list contains all chapters currently in volumes/tankōbon. |} Chapters Not Yet In Volumes These chapters have yet to be published in a tankōbon volume. They were originally serialized in issues of Weekly Shōnen Jump from February 2012 onwards. *Lesson 400. *Lesson 401. *Lesson 402. *Lesson 403. *Lesson 404. *Lesson 405. *Lesson 406. *Lesson 407. *Lesson 408. *Lesson 409. *Lesson 410. *Lesson 411. *Lesson 412. *Lesson 413. *Lesson 414. Anime Gintama An anime adaptation by Sunrise debuted on TV Tokyo on April 4, 2006. The first ninety-nine episodes were initially directed by Shinji Takamatsu. Episodes 100 to 105 were directed by Takamatsu and Yoichi Fujita, while the following episodes are being directed only by Fujita. The subtitle for the Gintama anime could be loosely translated as "The starting point is the utmost importance for anything, so trying to outdo oneself is just about right." During January 2009, Fujita mentioned he was not going to work in the fourth season of the series starting in such year. However, in February 2009, it was confirmed that the anime would continue for a fourth year, once again directed by Fujita. The series ended on March 25, 2010 with a total of 201 episodes. In Japan, Aniplex distributes the anime in DVD format. A total of thirteen volumes were released for the first season, between July 26, 2006 and June 26, 2007. The second season was released over another set of thirteen volumes between July 25, 2007 and July 23, 2008. Season 3 was also released in thirteen volumes from August 27, 2008 to August 26, 2009. The fourth season was collected released in thirteen DVD volumes from October 28, 2009 to October 27, 2010. In November 2008, an agreement was reached between TV Tokyo and the streaming video service Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll would stream English-subtitled episodes for free one week after they had aired in Japan. Paying subscribers can watch new episodes an hour after they air in Japan. On January 8, 2009, Crunchyroll uploaded their first episode (episode 129) to the service. Alongside new episodes each week, Crunchyroll also uploads episodes from the beginning of the series. The anime is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks, with distribution from Section23 Films. Section23 Films' Chris Oarr commented that only the first two seasons were licensed, with an option on the rest. The first collection containing thirteen English-subtitled episodes was released on DVD, April 27, 2010. Only 49 episodes were released before the releases stalled. However, shortly after licensing the Gintama film, Sentai Filmworks announced that based on the film's performance, they would consider releasing more of the series in North America, possibly with an English dub. Yorinuki Gintama-san On April 5, 2010, TV Tokyo stations began airing high-definition reruns of older episodes of Gintama under the title Yorinuki Gintama-san (よりぬき銀魂さん, literally "The Very Best of Gintama"), the title being a parody of the "best of" reruns of the anime Sazae-san. In addition to being broadcast in HD, new opening and ending animations and themes have been made. The opening and ending for episodes 1-9 are Does's "Bakuchi Dancer" (バクチ・ダンサー Bakuchi Dansā, lit. "Gambling Dancer") and "Bokutachi no Kisetsu" (僕たちの季節, lit. "Our Season"). Starting with episode 10 and going to 26, the opening was changed to Joe Inoue's "Kaze no Gotoku" (風のごとく, lit. "Like the Wind") and the ending was changed to Vijandeux's "WAVE". Starting with episode 27, the opening changed to Chiaki Kuriyama's "Kanōsei Girl" (可能性ガール Kanōsei Gāru, "Probable Girl") and the ending changed to Azu's "IN MY LIFE". Starting with episode 40, the opening changed to FLiP's "Karto Niago" (カートニアゴ Kātoniago?) and the ending changed to Piko's "Sakurane" (桜音, "Sakura Sound"). Gintama' In March 2010, Yoichi Fujita hinted the anime will continue once the staff get enough material to work on it. Shinji Takamatsu claimed the TV series "is absolutely not over. It hasn't even begun yet! It will definitely return." In December 2010, Shueisha stated that the Gintama anime would resume in April 2011. Gintama' (銀魂’), the sequel to the original Gintama anime, premiered in Japan on April 4, 2011. The main staff from the first TV series remain in Gintama' with Fujita as the director. Crunchyroll simulcasted the premiere of Gintama' to subscribers from its site. The first DVD from the series was released on July 27, 2011. The episode released on September 26, 2011 contains Sket Dance as a crossover special. The series ended on March 26, 2012 with a total of 51 episodes. A new anime has been announced to start airing in TV Tokyo on October 4, 2012. Films In October 2009, Warner Bros. registered the Internet domain name "Gintama-movie.com" although they did not confirm the making of a film. In the 2009's 58th issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, released later that month, it was confirmed the development of such film giving also the tagline "Gintama Wasshoi Matsuri!!" with "Wasshoi" being a shout commonly done in Japanese festivals. Titled Gintama: Shinyaku Benizakura-Hen (銀魂 新訳紅桜篇, lit. "Gintama: A New Retelling Benizakura Arc"), the film's plot is a retelling of the story arc from Gintama in which Kotaro Katsura is attacked by a member of the army Kiheitai, and Odd Jobs Gin start searching for him. One of the TV commercials of the film teases that the "true last scene" of the anime is in the film. Prior to the film's premiere, a festival known as "Gintama Haru Matsuri 2010" (銀魂 春祭り2010, lit. "Gintama Spring Festival") was held at Ryōgoku's Ryōgoku Kokugikan indoor arena in March 2010. There, the first three minutes of the film were to shown to the audience and the staff in charge talked to them. A DVD of this event was released on April 6, 2011. Does provided the musical themes "Bakuchi Dancer" (バクチダンサー) and "Boku Tachi no Kisetsu" (僕たちの季節) for the film. It premiered on April 24, 2010, picking up US$ 2.118.342 on 90 screens during its first days, and earned US$12.86 million in total. The film was released in DVD in both regular and limited releases on December 15, 2010, the latter including a bonus CD. Sentai Filmworks released the film in both DVD and Blu-ray format in North America on May 29, 2012 as Gintama: The Motion Picture. Although previous releases of the TV series by Sentai have only been in Japanese with English subtitles, their release of the movie is bilingual, and contained an English dub in addition to the Japanese track with English subtitles, marking the animated franchise's English-language debut. A second film was announced in August 2012 by the Weekly Shonen Jump. To be released during 2013, the script will be written by Hideaki Sorachi. Category:Weekly Shōnen Jump